John Dighton(1909-1989)
- Writer
Diminutive, softly-spoken British playwright and screenwriter, who
usually worked in collaboration. Educated at Charterhouse and Cambridge
University, Dighton wrote for the stage until entering films in 1935.
After initially working for
Michael Balcon at Gaumont-British, he was
briefly under contract to Warner Brothers. At Ealing from 1939, he had
his most productive spell with popular original screenplays and
adaptations from the classics. He is best remembered for two
quintessential British comedies, both starring
Alec Guinness:
Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949)
and
The Man in the White Suit (1951).
Another popular farce,
The Happiest Days of Your Life (1950),
was based on his own hit West End play. Dighton also had a brief tenure
in Hollywood, his most popular venture there being the classic romantic
comedy Roman Holiday (1953).
